This weekend, Philippine Independence celebrations will be winding up as Filipi­nos gather to commemorate the 113th years since the first Philippine Republic was pro­claimed on June 12, 1898 at Kawit, Cavite by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, its first president. As the euphoria subsides, it is well to ponder the true mean­ing of that independence. No amount of platitude and rhet­oric, song and dance or food, can compensate for our lack of under- standing of our true history.

The first in Asia to declare inde­pendence from a foreign power, (over 400 years of Spanish rule) the freedom was short-lived as Filipinos fought again their erstwhile American allies in the Philippine-American War of 1899 - 1902.

Unbeknownst to Aquinaldo the U.S., whom he thought was an ally in the fight against Spain, ceded or ‘sold’ the Philippines to Spain for the measly sum of $20,000 at the Treaty of Paris on Dec. 10, 1898. That was the first double-cross that the ‘benevolent’ Americans did to the Filipinos. In the years that followed that fate­ful date, the Philippines have been dominated by the U.S. to this day – a virtual colony despite the so-called grant of independence on July 4, 1946 (the date was changed in 1962 to June 12). Politically, economi­cally, socially and culturally, the country remains tied to the Americans.

Every year we are prom­ised by Philippine leaders freedom from poverty, cor­ruption and every other ill that prevails in the country. Every Independence Day we are treated to a ritual of breast thumping and self-congratulatory messages. And for 113 years, we have been doing that with no sign of improve­ment. Instead, we are slowly dying as a country. I hope I can be forgiven for saying so but to pretend otherwise is hypo­critical.

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